From the Desk of Joanna Rosato

PBS Mid-Atlantic Region continues to collaborate with our partners to drive down costs, increase the federal government’s productivity, and reduce our environmental footprint, while creating 21st century workplaces across government that better serve the American people.

We recently completed construction of the new U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Operations Systems Center in Kearneysville, WV. In this edition of Focus, you’ll read about the consolidation of five separate leases into a single, new facility, enabling USCG to reduce their space by over 10,000 rentable square feet—nearly a 20% space reduction.

We remain committed to making a more sustainable government that reduces energy use. We’re thrilled to join the Social Security Administration (SSA) in celebrating the construction completion of their new National Support Center (NSC) in Urbana, MD. We invite you to read about the new 300,000 square foot data center, which will provide computer operations essential to prompt and accurate benefits payments to Americans. GSA and SSA committed to aggressive energy performance goals for this project, ultimately achieving 30% energy savings compared to a typical data center.

You can also learn about our completion of the Integrated Engineering Services Building, a second new facility at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. NASA shares that the new buildings are using far less energy, resulting in lower operations and maintenance costs and freeing up approximately $3 million annually for research and development.

Our GSA Green Proving Ground (GPG) continues to test cutting edge sustainable technology in our federal buildings and the results have shown significant energy savings. Explore our recent assessment of daylight harvesting at five federal buildings, which revealed average annual energy savings of 27% with a payback as low as four years. You can also read about a recent recycling event held in Philadelphia, which resulted in the responsible disposal and/or reuse of over 26.5 tons of electronics from local, state and federal agencies.

Delivering the best value for government and the American people requires taking advantage of all available resources. In this Focus edition, we feature our GSA Mid-Atlantic Region Construction Services Managers who oversee the portfolio of construction/renovation projects within a GSA Field Office. Learn about their recent efforts to expand opportunities for small businesses, while fostering relationships with our clients to ensure project success.

While extremely busy on so many fronts, our GSA team remains committed to our continuous professional development so that we can deliver our mission as efficiently as possible. We feature three GSA Mid-Atlantic Region property management professionals in this edition, all of whom recently earned Real Property Administrator designations from the Building Owners and Managers Institute International, an independent institute for property and facility management education.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with you in 2015 and beyond.